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Trade and Development Corporation Territory
The Trade and Development Corporation Territory (Gorami Verwaltungsgebiet Handels- und Entwicklungs-GmbH; Sanpatrician Spahneesh Territorio Administrado por la Compañía de Comercio y Desarrollo; Mixtuptecan Uey Pochtecatlan), commonly referred to as TDCorp territory, by its former colonial name of Otago or simply TDCorp, is the territory in the continent of Melania which is currently managed by the Trade and Development Corporation, an autonomous, self-chartered joint-stock corporation recognized as a sovereign entity under current Vexillian international law. Located in the central-southeast part of the continent, it borders the Greater Burovian Realm dominions of Kalesthesia, Oost-Otago and Uudangwuu, San Patricio, Afrazure Altlandique and the Stervian Confederation. Its coast abuts the Welfenian Sea. Etymology During the colonization of Melania, a St. Kildan expedition named the territory Otago after a hitherto-unknown, ancient region of the Isles; the meaning of the word in Ingallish is also unknown as of today. The Chilango tribes which inhabited the territory as a remainder of the great Mixtuptecan wanderings (see History) called the coastal marshes and beaches Cem Anahuac (The One World), a name also applied to the islands of Xochimechatl a short distance across the Maritimian Ocean; this name is still metaphorically used. The name "Trade and Development Corporation" was chosen by the Federation of Otagan Industry as a neutral description of the corporate entity that would take over the functions provided by the St. Kildan government and the Bank of St. Kilda after the Otago Incident. Administration Government The Trade and Development Corporation ensures that the three main needs of a free market - clear property rights, clear conflict-resolution systems, and clear trading systems - are adequately met in the territory assigned to its administration. From the moment of privatization onwards, the functions normally carried out by a national government, signally rule of law, security, commons regulations, correction of market failures, relations with states and international organizations, territorial defense and external security have been carried out by the Trade and Development Corporation in the name of its stockholders. TDCorp, as it is commercially known, can delegate these functions to other companies or to individuals, as in the case of coinage, which is minted and regulated by a Currency Consortium of chartered banks; judicial procedure and conflict resolution, which is managed by 3 jurist associations which recognize each other's decisions; real estate registration, which is managed by the Otagan College of Notaries; and other examples. TDCorp has drafted an extensive set of corporate regulations which take the place of a constitution. These regulations are drafted either by internal teams, stockholders or interested individuals, and are presented to the yearly General Assembly of Stockholders to be evaluated and eventually approved. Administrative Divisions TDCorp territory has no divisions, and it is managed as an integral whole. Cities are managed as separate branches, and the rural areas are managed by the TDCorp Agricultural Department. Informally, the territory south of Welfen Pass is known as the Old Lease, and the territory of the former Wwww incorporated as a result of the Regina Incident is known as the New Territories. Political Parties There are no political parties in TDCorp territory. TDCorp does not restrict the activity of any association, and foreign political entities such as the Bureau of Westrian Affairs have a presence in the territory. History * See: Otago Incident * See: The Regina Testament Geography Old Lease The territory is fundamentally a confluence of riverine floodplains, with a slowly rising slope from the sea up to the borders with Kalesthesia and Oost-Otago. The erosive action of the rivers' waters have long ago rendered any significant elevations flat, leaving a gently rolling terrain much of which was originally occupied by a thriving tropical rain forest. This state of affairs has been changed during the millenia of human habitation, with most of the coastal terrain converted to grazing savanna, and the low elevations near Kalesthesia being cleared to fuel the beginnings of a mining industry. The central part of the Old Lease is, however, still heavily forested, and the recent popularity of ecotourism in the Vex has virtually ensured the continued existence of this sizeable remnant of the primary forest cover, as it was one of the most popular items auctioned off by TDCorp during the early days of the privatization program. The northern mountainous terrain centered around Welfen Pass became important during the last years of the St. Kildan colonization period (see History) when important metal deposits were discovered there and exploited by local and Westrian companies. These mountains are of volcanic origin, and the Afrazurean Massif is considered the most important example of shield volcanism in the Vex. Reports about activity are contradictory, and confirmation awaits a more thorough study of magma movement beneath the Massif. New Territories Recent geological studies point to the existence of a vast sea that neatly bisected Melania from the north reaches of the Sea of Patrick through what is now the New Territories and south to the Old Lease part of TDCorp territory. This marine stage has influenced the territory's geography until today; basically, the New Territories remain a great sand bowl, rimmed by mountains. The absence of any major rivers and the extreme flatness across much of the territory, broken only by the formation known as the "Pinch", located around B.U.R. Rotialcanza, that almost divides the New Territories transversally. The marine influence can also be seen in the salt flats that dot the great sandy expanses of the New Territories, providing a ready source of minerals to many companies that have found them profitable. The northwestern part of the territories feature a mountain range of medium height that shows a great kink in its midsection as a possible result of faulting, and that was named "the Earth Snake" by the native WWWW people and Iztacóatl, the White Snake, by the few Mixtuptecans that had seen it. Demographics ADD TEXT National Symbols Economy Military SECDIV. Ph33r th3m. Culture Yes, we have a culture! Languages The main language spoken in TDCorp territory since before privatization was the St. Kildan variant of Ingallish; the particular brogue the islanders developed during the Plague years was transmitted whole and mixed with the Sanpatrician inflexions to create a unique accent recognizable in every corner of the Vex. The second language of the territory is a special case, for it is the notoriously peculiar Rizne, the rich and complicated tongue of Zartania. This has a historical motive: the signing of a wide-ranging agreement between TDCorp and the Zartanian Empire to modernize and expand the transport infrastructure of the newly-enlarged nation after the liberation of Western Zartania. TDCorp and its associated companies employed literally millions of territory inhabitants on yearly rotations along with their Zartanian counterparts, affecting the culture in both places profoundly; the hitherto retiring Zartanian society had its first peaceful interaction with a foreign polity, and the TDC stockholders were exposed to one of the most purely preserved, idiosyncratic peoples in the Vex. The open nature of the TDC stockholders, a result of thir mixed heritage (very similar to San Patricio) meshed well with the honest, bluff nature of the Zartanian people, and the 8-year project gave rise to both a generation of completely fluent Rizne-speakers in TDC territory and a demand for continued instruction in Rizne for young stockholders. Even now, fluent Rizne is a given for any TDCorp stockholder under 60 years of age, and the strong bonds between both entities are cemented by a continuous flow of reciprocal visits; no educational establishment exists which does not offer Rizne as a language in itself and as course language at all levels. Signs, advertising and other printed and electronic media are rendered in Liliani and Rizne script, often electronically interchangeable, and TDC-based companies are guaranteed two markets for all their Rizne-based offerings. Due to the geographical vicinity and the close relationship with the Union of San Patricio, including work-motivated migration by San Patricians of all persuasions, it is rare to find a TDC stockholder who is not fluent in either Sanpatrician Spahneesh or Mixtupteca; the younger generation is for all intents and purposes quatrilingual to some degree, especially since Spahneesh is spoken in other countries on the Vex and is favored as a business tool. Mixtupteca words and phrases have influenced all languages spoken on the territory as part of a profound identification with the Chilango culture of the first inhabitants which still permeates the population, and it is often seen that activities such as sports cheering or public eating are conducted in Mixtupteca. Religion See Sports Music ADD TEXT HERE Sports Mass sports are assiduously followed in TDCorp territory, to a degree where this fanatism has been deemed the closest the territory’s inhabitants have to a religion. Many of the popular sports of Vexillium have been imported and organized, but 2 stand out in popularity: football and motorsports. Football The most popular sport practiced and watched in the territory, football was already established when the St. Kiltan expeditions arrived, and the beginnings of a league existed as a series of traditional confrontations between the Chilango settlements on the coast. This ''tlachtli, ''as it was known in Mixtuptecan, was taken up as a major event in the trading festivals that had taken the place of the religion-inspired reunions of the old Xochimeca calendar, and the St.Kiltan colonialists contributed their own obsession with the game and their distinctive, passing-oriented style to the mix. A league after the St.Kiltan mold was one of the first organizations to arise when St. Kilta asserted sovereignty, with clearly defined zones: Coast, Miners’ and Welfenian. The league sent representatives to St. Kilta as part of the overall management of the colony, and the Otéagan league champion played the homeland’s league winner yearly for the Kiltan Cup; the Coast region almost always provided this champion, as the most developed of the footballing regions. The league was almost unchanged by the privatization process, with one important exception: representatives were sent to IVEFA and NOVEFA in January, 299 to start the process that would lead to affiliation. Contrary to the experience of Otéagan participation in other Vexillian organizations (and maybe because of TDCorp’s hands-off approach to the football world), this led to protracted and complicated negotiations, mainly regarding the formation and maintenance of national teams. The OTM (Otéagu Tlachtli Mecatlaxalli, Otéagan Football League) insisted on having the champion club sides represent the territory on both club and national competitions; this condition was initially rejected by IVEFA and NOVEFA, and it would remain a sore point in the talks. Nevertheless, a first, tentative agreement was reached in order to allow the new territory to take part in the Copa Vexanova organized by NOVEFA for 399 in Ordland; the reigning champion, Blaukreuz Pozzolan from the inland port of Tuano, was hurriedly named as the territory’s representative and sent to the slaughter. The blue/whites were duly massacred by the then-powerful Northern Gronk and Bowdani sides, 3-1 and 6-2; despite showing initiative and a promising offense, the first Otéagan incursion into international football was an unmitigated disaster. This result was used by NOVEFA, IVEFA and even by some internal media as an argument in favor of setting up a proper national team infrastructure; however, this was against both the OTM’s tradition as a negotiating body between the powerful regions, and against the quiet but powerful voice of TDCorp, who sent a brief but peremptory message containing a demand to better the squads’ level before attempting anything involving representation again. With negotiations effectively stalled, the league decided to focus on attracting investment and talent form the football powerhouses of Westria and Eastern Zartania while building up youth talent; this led to the founding of new teams in the bigger cities’ barrios, the smaller cities, and the “new towns” springing all over the New Territories. This infusion of new capital and new blood from the massive immigration into the New Territories changed the league’s structure and the player pool, which had been rather thin and haphazardly-managed until then. Out of this crucible came some credible club sides, including a revived Blaukreuz, the LopezCaste Duros, the university sides based in Chilaangotitlán, Entierromaciza and Welfen Pass, and a formerly obscure club which would achieve enduring fame, coming from the wild and woolly barrio of Iztacalco in the eastern reaches of the capital. Iztacalco has carried the territory's football reputation far and wide, establishing themselves as a scrappy, offensive team with an offensive bent, and a provider of entertaining upsets, especially in their first 2 Vexillium Cups, where they elbowed out Cruisana and the 306 hosts, Davenport, for a place in the second round. Present Issues ADD TEXT See also TDCorp light site Category:Nations